Josh, Becca, Aaron & Lorraine

Gerson Chanowitz died January 31, 2022 in Silver Spring Maryland at the age of 85. He was born September 11, 1936 in Bronx, New York and was the oldest child of Ethel and Irvin Chanowitz. He is survived by his children Aaron Chanowitz, Jeff Chanowitz, and Alissa Abrahams, and his six grandchildren Josh, Becca, Ayala, Eliana, Benny, and Svetlana. His siblings are Roberta Solomon, and Lorraine Benner.

Gerson was a well know Economist in Washington, first with Aerospace Industries, then as a Chief Economist for the Department of Justice during the 1970’s, during which he came very close to achieving his PhD. We were all so proud of his achievements and his beautiful family.

Then life took a sad turn when he dealt with mental health issues. Not very much common knowledge existed then about the impact of mental health, and we were all in the dark. Gerson's struggle became our family's struggle, and we know that he wished to rid himself of the illness. Those years of illness and sadness remain vivid in our memories because they are most recent and they caused us all pain.

However, Gerson eventually settled in his own apartment in Downtown Silver Spring and for last 17 years managed to care for himself in his own way. Daily walks twice a day to Wholefoods, where the coffee folks always knew him as “ice coffee Gerson with a tea spoon of honey” all year around.

We know that he would want us to mostly remember our happy times together and all his happy years so let’s focused on those memories and enjoy his family photos.